Fearless Lisa

Growing up, my sister Lisa was always the fearless one of the three Tufts girls.  She would try anything once.  She learned how to ride a bicycle at the tender age of 4 and raced down the street so fast one day that she flew head over heels over the handle bars.  As a child, she had a small body but a big voice.  My Mom’s friend remembers coming to the door, looking out and seeing no one; then she heard Lisa speak and looked way down where she spotted her.  Lisa always liked animals.  She talked my Mom and Dad into adopting a cat at Turnbull’s Grove where we had a mobile home.  Taffy was a beautiful cat, but sadly she lived only a year since she was hit by a car.  Lisa was artistic and liked to do arts and crafts at home.  Although she did not like high school at first, once she decided she wanted to be in the fashion arts program at another school, she excelled.  With her creative juices flowing, she had found her niche.  I remember her walking the runway in more than one fashion show. 

Lisa decided to study Graphic Arts at Humber College and once again she was in her element.  I remember the night she moved back home from Toronto to Hamilton after she graduated.  She had met some great friends at college, including Anne Marie and Joe, who helped her move her furniture.  Joe had placed two wicker chairs in the back of his pick up truck.  On the way to Hamilton via the QEW at 2 am, the wind whipped the chairs right out of the truck, but Joe failed to notice until a minute or two later.  The faithful friend pulled over and started running back along the QEW to fetch the missing chairs!  A policeman stopped him midway and asked him what he was doing on foot on the QEW.  He explained his dilemma and the policeman responded:  “Hop in!  I just helped another guy put those chairs in the back of his truck!”  A police chase ensued and the policeman and Joe did retrieve the wicker chairs.  Good friends stick around through the good times and the bad and now, almost 30 years later, Anne Marie and Joe are still Lisa’s friends.

Lisa graduated from riding a bicycle to riding horses.  Her first horse, named Café au Lait, she boarded in Bolton.  Later she bought a farm in Erin, Ontario and eventually boarded a total of 10 horses.  She always loved riding those horses, especially in the autumn, breathing in the cold crisp air as she galloped. 

Lisa always liked children and when she found out she couldn’t have one biologically, she was not deterred, but adopted a baby (see my post “In the Palm of His Hand”). But she didn’t stop at just one – over the next few years, she adopted four!  It is nice to see all four children so healthy and happy.  Her youngest three are birth siblings and it's a blessing that they were able to stay together.

Lisa’s fearless nature has never been more evident than in the last two and a half years since she suffered a stroke.  Although the odds were against her to survive, she not only survived, but she prospered, regaining her ability to talk, eat, sit up, read, write, exercise, and put on make up.  In her two years in the hospital, she never complained, never whined, but always counted the blessings that she had.  Her faith in God gave her the strength to walk through the valley.  Thank you, Lisa, for your fearless nature and enduring faith!  I love you!  Happy Birthday!